Sweet Shit Round Up
February 2020
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Another month down and I gotta tell ya, there was some pretty sweet shit that came my way. Books, podcasts, tv shows, and all kinds of other things made the list this month. Check it out below!
Books
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
- Little Leaders is not just a cute book but also an important one. Vashti Harrison put together short and informative biographies of 40 women crucial to Black History, some you’ve heard of and probably more than a few that you haven’t (cause we all know history classes don’t like to take the spotlight from old white dudes.) Not only does Harrison write the bios but she also does the illustrations. You might also know her work from doing the illustrations for Matthew A. Cherry’s 2019 children’s book, Hair Love, which also just won the Academy Award for best animated short. She’s super talented and you can see more from her on Instagram @vashtiharrison
Needful Things by Stephen King
- Somehow, someway, Pittsburgh had like four beautiful days in a row this month. When the weather gets nice I’m always ready to read a Stephen King book, the juxtaposition of the beautiful weather with the dark stories is one of my favorite things. This time around I decided to pick up Needful Things, a book I’ve read once before and loved. The story follows the citizens of Castle Rock, Maine, a fictional town that’s very familiar among King fans, as they combat a new store owner who has more in mind than just selling his wares. This sucker is thick and I’ll probably still be reading it into March, so let me know if you pick up a copy and we can have ourselves an old fashioned book club!
Games
- This game from Ubisoft came out in early 2018 and I still have a lot of fun playing it. The mood struck me to do a replay a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been hunting Peggies (cult members) ever since. The story follows a rookie deputy in the fictional Hope County, Montana who comes up against a cult lead by the mostly shirtless, Joseph Seed and his family. It’s an open world game that gives you a lot of freedom to pick and choose which missions you want to do while also progressing the story along. This was the first Far Cry game I ever played and it definitely got me interested to try some of the others, but so far number five is still my number one.
TV and Videos
Better Call Saul - AMC
- Breaking Bad is one of my all time favorite shows. I usually rewatch the series once a year or like to throw episodes on in the background while I work on something or clean. Better Call Saul is the prequel series to Breaking Bad following shady lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) before he became Saul Goodman. Personally, I think I might actually like Better Call Saul more than Breaking Bad if for no other reason than I don’t have to care about Walt’s pride filled bullshit. Season 5 just started on AMC this past Sunday and airs Mondays at 9pm. You can catch up on the first four seasons on Netflix this weekend!
Reverse Engineering with Chris Morocco - Youtube
- I watch a lot of Youtube videos #millennial. While my taste tends to lean towards video game Let’s Plays, I recently came across the Bon Appétit channel and their show, Reverse Engineering with Chris Morocco. This show is such fun! Each episode has Chris Morocco recreating a recipe from some famous chef but he never gets to see what it is he’s making until he’s made his own version. Wearing a blindfold, Morocco gets his hands dirty by feeling around the prepared plate, tasting and smelling the dish, and using only those senses to figure out what the dish is and guess how to replicate it exactly. There’s grading, there’s graphics, there’s goofing around. And he’s pretty impressive with how well he knows his shit!
Podcasts
- This podcast just came into my life about a week ago and I’m already hooked. It’s a true horror podcast hosted by Andrew Tate who narrates listener submitted true life stories of unsettling, spooky, and downright scary events they’ve lived through. My husband and I tend to listen as we’re settling into bed for the night, which might be the worst possible time if you’re prone to nightmares, and more than a few stories have made my chest tight with anxiety…..but in a fun, thank god this didn’t happen to me, kind of way. I recommend episodes 3x09 - It Wasn’t A Cat, and 2x11 - Spider to get you started. You can check it out on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts!
- Another spooky podcast that I can’t get enough of (I sense a theme.) Hosted by Shelby Scott, this weekly podcast finds Scott reading listener submitted or her own spooky short stories. Believe it, this is another one I’ll listen to as I’m trying to fall asleep because Scott’s voice is gentle and relaxing, even if the content she’s sharing is the opposite. While you can easily hop into this podcast anywhere, I highly suggest the first two stories she ever did, The Aumaille Swamp Tour Co. parts 1 & 2 and Limes as a fun introduction. Check it out on Spotify!
Products and Services
Sanitizer Set
- It’s still cold and flu season so it seems like the perfect time to give a shout out to this Purell sanitizer set my husband grabbed during the great strep saga of 2020. It includes two containers of wipes, two pump sanitizers, two keychain sanitizers, and six mini sanitizers (I know that link isn’t Purell but I couldn’t find any cheap ones from them on Amazon) to keep in desk drawers or purses. They’ve been a real lifesaver in keeping this house germ free. The set we got was $14 and has since become unavailable, thanks Coronavirus, but you can still find plenty of affordable sanitizer sets to help keep those germies away.
- Did you know these were still a thing? Cause I sure didn’t. We recently got a set of these for the classroom I’ve been working with and they’re a big hit….at least with me. I felt the sweet embrace of nostalgia the second I took one out of the box and started stamping all over a plate.
- Tax season sucks. They make it hella complicated to figure out without spending money on an accountant (and if you’ve got the means….maybe just hire one and save yourself the headache.) We could live in a world where the government just lets us know if/what we owe or if we’ll be getting money back but the world is fucked and lobbyists want us to spend our money on their programs (looking at you Turbo Tax) and that’s why we have to do our own taxes. Last year I came across Credit Karma Tax after getting angry about needing to spend $40 on one extra form through Turbo Tax. Credit Karma Tax offers 100% free filing for all of their supported forms and they also offer free audit defense should one come your way. Does it still suck to do your taxes? For sure. But not being nickled and dimed for something the government makes us do, makes it suck a little less.
Miscellaneous Sweet Shit
- She’s just my girl and I love her. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be voting for whomever has the Democratic nomination come November (though if it somehow ends up being Biden, Bloomberg, or Buttigieg I’m gonna be beside myself) but Warren has my vote now. She’s quick witted, she has well thought out plans of action, she does her research, and she scares the shit out of Ann Coulter. What’s not to like?
Temperature color coded scarf/blanket
- I saw this tweet on my timeline at the beginning of the month and thought it was brilliant. Mixing crafting with environmental awareness is such a fun and creative way to feel connected to what is happening to our planet in regards to global warming. There wound up being a whole thread of people who’ve done this kind of thing as scarves and blankets and now I’m trying to learn how to crochet/knit just so I can make one of my own!
How was your February? Did you find anything new and interesting to share? Or maybe you rediscovered something you love? Share all your sweet shit from February in the comments below!